Hello, new to the forum. Canít figure out how my snap ring comes out. Done working for the night. I drained my manual trans fluid and got 4 qts in the fill hole above the drain plug. I read I need to add another quart since my truck is a 93 hardbody D21. I can not figure out how to get the snap ring out. I bought snap ring pliers but I must be doing something wrong because they are bending. Obviously they are cheap, well I paid $15 but tools arenít what they used to be. Do I rotate the snap ring and it will pop out? Do I pull on the shifter once I depress the ring? Everyone says itís very easy and Iím over here getting PO that Iím missing a simple tip. Iím considering parking on a hill and seeing if I can get the last qt in that way? Be easy on me.

If you are having trouble sometimes what helps is to get the snap ring started with the pliers than jam a small flatblade screwdriver in behind it to keep it from snapping back into its groove. Then you can take another screwdriver and work your way around. Be prepared, it's probably going to go flying once it comes loose. Those can be a pain.

Okay. I was starting to do that but didn’t want to damage anything. I figured with how most posts were saying it was easy that I was missing something. Getting it back in sounds like it will be hard then out.

Ditto for harbor freight. I own 2 sets of their snap ring pliers and they suck. They bend and slip under the slightest amount of pressure. I have some channellock snap ring pliers too (they are sold under a number of different brands) and they are a lot better but still struggle under pressure. On the bright side, getting the snap ring back in is the easy part.

Also, I just glanced at this thread's title...if all you want to do is pour more gear oil in you don't need to remove the snap ring at all. Just pour it in nice and slow.

I just changed my trans fluid two weeks ago and I filled it through the shifter. But instead of pouring it in slow, I removed the shifter. I bought a pair of snap ring pliers from harbor freight as well. All you need to do is insert the pliers in the holes and pull apart and the ring will compress. Then the shifter pulls straight up. After its service just pull apart the pliers again when you insert the ring back in. Side notes. You will need one maybe two different size zip ties. A 11" or 12" for securing the shift boot to shifter flange. Then possibly a much smaller one that holds the top of the shift boot to the shifter........................................... .....